The bottom line is clear: Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them. On the contrary, waging a lengthy counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan may well do more to aid Taliban recruiting than to dismantle the group, help spread conflict further into Pakistan, unify radical groups that might otherwise be quarreling amongst themselves, threaten the long-term health of the U.S. economy, and prevent the U.S. government from turning its full attention to other pressing problems. -- Afghanistan Study Group

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Baghdad:#1: Shi'ite militants kidnapped three Iraqi national police officers from a police checkpoint on Saturday in Ur district in northern Baghdad before releasing them hours later, the U.S. military said

#2: Two civilians were injured in an IED explosion that targeted an American convoy in Palestine Street east Baghdad around 12:00 pm.

Misan Prv:#1: The first officer was a colonel who was a Lieutenant Colonel who was killed in al Askari neighborhood downtown Umara city.

#2: The second officer was a Major who was killed in the new buildings neighborhood downtown Umara city

#3: the third officer was Lieutenant who was killed in his car while he was returning back home in al Uroba neighborhood downtown Umara city.

#4: Police found four bodies in Baghdad today. Three bodies were found in Rusafa, the eastern side of Baghdad in the following neighborhoods (1 body in Ur, 1 body in Jisr Diyala and 1 body in Shaab). The fourth body was found in Washash neighborhood in Karkh, the western side of Baghdad.

Diyala Prv:Baquba:#1: Chief of the Diala police department General Ghanem al-Qureshi escaped an attempt on his life on Tuesday when an improvised explosive device went off targeting his motorcade in central Baaquba, a police source said. "The explosion left no casualties, but caused some material damage to some of the motorcade's vehicles,," he added.

Taji:#1: A suicide bomber killed eight members of an anti-Qaeda front as he triggered his explosive vest at a checkpoint outside a Sunni tribal sheikh's house in central Iraq on Tuesday, police said. The attack took place outside the home of Sheikh Shathr al-Obeidi, leader of a tribal "Awakening" group ranged against Al-Qaeda in Awad village near Taji, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Baghdad, a police officer said.

Tikrit:#1: At least three Iraqis were killed and one child was injured after American soldiers stormed a tiny one-room house north of Baghdad and opened fire, U.S. and Iraqi officials said today.

Samarra:#1: Iraqi forces found the bodies of 55 people allegedly killed and buried by al-Qaeda loyalists in a mass grave near the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, a police officer said Tuesday. A police force backed by tribal units made the discovery while conducting a search operation in al-Jazira west of Samarra, 120 kilometres north of Baghdad, Colonel Mamduh al-Bazi from the city police told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. The bodies were of middle-aged men in plain-clothes, who seemed to have been hurriedly buried at different times.

#2: A gunman of al-Qaeda armed group was killed by police forces in Hamam al-Aleel region, south of Mosul," Brigadier Khaled Abdul Sattar told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq

Tal Afar:#1: Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops killed three al Qaeda gunmen during operations on Friday, near Tal Afar, 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

Al Anbar Prv:#1: A suicide bomber blew up an explosive belt strapped to his body at a checkpoint on Zeraa Degla-Karama road in eastern Falluja, killing five Awakening Council fighters and seriously injuring four," the leader, who asked anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq

Afghanistan:#1: One woman, two children and two men were killed on Monday when their taxi was blown up in Lashkargah, the provincial capital, said Mohammad Hussain Andewal, the provincial police chief. Another civilian was wounded in the attack, which Andewal blamed on the Taleban.

#2: Meanwhile, another roadside bomb struck a police vehicle in the neighboring province of Kandahar late Monday, said provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib. The attack that took place in Kandahar city also left three more policemen wounded, Saqib said.

#3: Two Canadian soldiers have been wounded by a roadside bomb. The blast happened about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar city near a police substation. The soldiers suffered only cuts and bruises and returned to duty shortly after the incident.

Casualty Reports:

Staff Sgt. Larry Teakell tackled the soldier in an attempt to smother the flames, but the fire kept reigniting because of a large amount of fuel sprayed on her. He first used a uniform top and then his bare hands to extinguish the flames. As a result, he suffered second-degree burns.

The rocket-propelled grenade that exploded about 13 inches from Spc. Kevin Spangler's face shortened his Army career. But the blast that almost killed the 21-year-old soldier, leaving him deaf in his left ear. A member of 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Spangler was serving as top gunner on a Humvee in a small town northwest of Baghdad on Feb. 6, 2006. "The next thing I knew an explosion happened right next to me and knocked me right next to the turret," Spangler recalled. "I saw the blast. I kind of heard it, but not really heard it. It knocked me out, but I was still reacting to everything. "The blast blew a hole in his eardrum, while pieces of shrapnel sliced off the lower half of his ear, cut open his shoulder and pierced his lungs and spleen.